Higher education system to play pivotal role in bridging India’s skill gap: IBM study

BENGALURU: 61 per cent of India’s higher education leaders said that the education system is unable to respond to society’s changing needs, says a study conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) in cooperation with the Economist Intelligence Unit, to to evaluate India’s growing skills challenge and propose recommendations to bridge the gap.
Addressing the looming talent shortage will be instrumental to prepare India for the competitive global economy. A majority of Indian executives surveyed in the study said that the quality and quantity of skills in the Indian workforce are at least comparable to those of other countries, and many reported them to be superior. However, only 40% indicated new employees recruited in local labour markets have the requisite job skills.

The IBM study, ‘Upskilling India’, derives insights from a survey of academics, corporate-recruiters, and emerging education leaders in India. In addition, the study also analysed results of recent surveys of startup entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and corporate executives.

The executives surveyed highlighted that improved access to higher-quality skills will boost productivity and efficiency throughout the economy. The required skills, however, are changing as rapidly as industries and the economy itself. New digital technologies disrupting the business landscape are largely impacting how industries are structured and economic activity occurs. Traditional value chains are becoming increasingly fragmented, and new types of business ecosystems are rapidly forming and evolving.

“Skill is emerging as the new currency across businesses globally and in India. Today’s rapidly evolving economic environment makes upskilling an imperative across job profiles and sectors. India is caught by both a skill gap and a higher education sector struggling to keep up. That is why it is critical to take proactive measures to transform the higher education system to create a new model that better aligns with industry imperatives,” said DP Singh, vice-president and head - HR, IBM India/ South Asia.

The survey makes the following recommendations: develop more practical, applied, experience-based education; rethink higher education curricula by identifying opportunities to infuse experience-based and real-world learning experiences and embracing new teaching technologies and techniques; higher education institutions should build alliances with industry partners, share learning and refine strategies.